MUSIC BIOGRAPHY: CANDICE

Candice’s current output marks a huge leap from last January’s album. On signing internationally with Sony the plan had been merely to update that collection with some new songs. As it turned out, Candice just didn’t stop writing, and now only a handful of those original songs will find their way into UK record stores. Indeed, Candice has been so prolific that it’s time to start offloading tracks elsewhere. "Some people have been, like, 'Don't give any away! You need your songs!' but I've written a lot so far and they can't all go on the album. I'm more than happy to pass some on."

Characteristically hungry for other perspectives and influences, Candice has also teamed up with other songwriters for her new album. ‘Insecure’, which Candice describes as “a total 360 on what people think about relationships” bears the hallmark of co-writer and veteran Aerosmith producer Marty Frederickson while ‘Let Me Go’ and the heartstopping ‘Didn’t Cry Enough’ are both collaborations with the True North team. Candice considers these sessions a massive success. “It's hard to go into a room and divulge everything about yourself,” she admits, “and the best results are from when I’d gone back and worked with them a third or fourth time. Continuing to draw on her dream diary and events in real life, Candice’s songs are touched with a rare honesty that can sometimes throw up uncomfortable truths about life and love.

Having played a series of low-key acoustic shows over the last few months, Candice has already created a buzz on the London live circuit. Performing her songs live "completes the puzzle", she says, bridging the gap between Candice's startlingly honest lyrics and an audience who, she‘s discovered, have found it easy to transpose these intensely personal life stories onto their own lives. "Playing live in London is not that different to playing live in South Africa," she smiles, before pausing slightly. "Then again, I tend to sing with my eyes closed, so I can’t say for sure."

Candice may already know what it’s like to be recognized in the street, but this music must and does succeed on its own considerable merits. “I'm not into bullshit. I'm just into getting the job done. The music has to come first, anything else can take a backseat.”

“When people ask me what sort of music I make, I always say 'Trance rock'. They go, 'But that's not a category'. And I go, 'Damn right it's not. Listen to my music and make up your own mind'.”

Well here’s your chance.

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